A Night To Remember
by Kandi Owens
Summary: Cedra gets lost in the forest one day and finds the Malfoy Mansion. What will unravel while she's there?


Cedra had been in the forest for half a day when the noises began. Earlier that morning she had decided that it would be quite fun to go on an adventure in the forest. She liked doing things like that; she found it very soothing. After a while Cedra had found that she was lost and didn't know her way back. By then half the whole day had gone by. Up in the trees, high above her she could hear movements, whispers, and malicious giggles. "Hello? Is anyone out there?" she had called out but got now answer. The sounds would stop for a few minutes after she would say something, and then start back up until she spoke again. Although very frightened, Cedra had decided to keep walking in a desperate attempt to find her way home. About an hour after her wandering, she stumbled across a huge mansion with millions of acres of land as far as the eye could see. "Whoa, this sure isn't home sweet home," she had loudly gasped. There were several things she could have done at that point but narrowed it down to two things: To run as far and fast as she could from the house or to go to the house and knock on the door to ask for help. Cedra decided it best to go to the house; she had already grown week and hungry. Shakily she had walked up to the house, which stood far taller than the tallest building ever built and at least three miles to each side. Above the double doors stood a huge sign saying "Malfoy Mansion". On the doors were golden knockers that resembled a coiled up snake, and the knocker part was one of the snake's coils.  
  
Just as Cedra reached for the knocker, the head of the snake suddenly came to life and hissed, "What reason does thou have of they visit to this cold, dark, and lonely mansion?"  
  
Cedra was greatly frightened and had managed to give a faint whisper, "I…I…I was lost and… I… um need help finding my way back."  
  
The snake gave one final hiss before they turned back to the solid gold knockers they were before. Minutes had flown by before someone opened the door and invited Cedra in. She saw a man with long, shiny silverish- blonde hair, pale skin, and cold gray eyes. "Do you know who I am?" he asked her but she shook her head. "Well then, I am Lucious Malfoy. Sit child, and tell me the reason for your sudden and unexpected visit," he asked her sternly.  
  
""You see sir, I was in the forest and had gotten lost and was trying to find my back as best I could. Then I stumbled upon your home and thought that I would at least see if I could be helped," she tensely said.  
  
"Hmmm…" Lucious grumbled. "I don't know how I can help you right at the moment, but why don't you stay the night in my lovely mansion and by morning will have found a way to get you safely back home?"  
  
Cedra was very leery, but was grateful for as much help as she could get at that moment, from what she had seen earlier there wasn't another house for miles, if even that. "Yes sir, I would like that very much," she said.  
  
"Very well, come, meet my son and wife," he said as he led her to the dining hall. "This is my wife Narcissa, and my son Draco." Draco was a skinny, pointy faced, pale skinned, blonde haired, pale eyed boy of about 15 years of age. "Sit and dine with us, you look as if you haven't eaten for days," Lucious had told her.  
  
*Maybe it has been days that I was in the forest.* She thought several odd thoughts before being served a fine and elegant meal that only the upper class, rich people would be fine enough to eat. All during dinner that night Cedra's eyes would meet Draco's. Most girls would have been flattered by it, but it bugged Cedra; she wasn't used to boys giving her googly-eyed glances.  
  
After her fancy dinner, she was led into a sitting room. The only other person in the room with her was Draco. It was very silent for several minutes before Draco had finally said, "So… Where are you from?"  
  
"Surrey, in England," she had replied to him.  
  
"Oh well that doesn't say much, but that is good enough. You are still in Surrey, on the outskirts though. What school, may I ask, do you attend?" Draco had asked; thinking she was a pure blooded muggle.  
  
Cedra was very worried now, because she thought that Draco would become suspicious if she told him the name of the school she had attended. "Durmstang," she replied.  
  
"Oh, I see. I attend Hogwarts," at the moment he couldn't think of anything better to say. It was like being hit right in the face unexpectedly. "I expect you to be a pure blood then?"  
  
"You think Durmstang would accept any mudbloods?" she had become relieved of staying with the Malfoys at that moment. She could tell that they were the kind that she would hang around. "I'm not exactly a pure blooded witch though. I'm part vampire. But don't worry, you don't' have to worry about me sucking your blood or anything," she joked because of the look he had given her.  
  
"You're pure enough to be welcome in this household." Draco had told her, sounding his usual snobbish self. "Look at the time. It sure does fly. I'll have my mother show you to your room." He had hopped up and flown out of the room faster than bolt of lightning.  
  
Narcissa came in the room moments later and showed Cedra to a beautifully furnished room with silk covers on the bed, Persian carpets, antique dressers, tables, chairs, and several other luxurious furniture. "Sleep well, my fair one. For the night can hold many dangerous tasks," she had whispered in Cedra's ear before leaving the room. This left Cedra guessing for years and years after that about what she meant by it.  
  
The next morning Cedra had awoken to a spine tingling scream. She jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs that seemed like they would never end, without thinking of what lie ahead of her. She walked by when someone had grabbed her and put their hand over her mouth so she could not scream. "Shhh… Don't make a sound. He'll hear you. And if he finds you then he'll kill you, hang your head upon the door and heaven only knows what he'll do to your body parts. Most likely he'll eat them, feed them to the dogs, send them back to your family, or some other odd ting such as that. Hopefully you get my point as to not to make a noise," Draco had whispered.  
  
As soon as he had let go of her she turned swiftly and whispered back, "Who? Who is 'he'?"  
  
"My father," Draco had answered. "Look, that scream you heard was my mother. We've got to find a way out of here. This house shows no mercy, so don't expect us to be able to just go out the back door. Try to help me think of a plan to get out."  
  
Cedra was terrified upon hearing that the scream was Narcissa's agonizing death. "Where are we to go once we have gotten out?" she hesitantly asked.  
  
"I don't know, anywhere that's away from here. Now stop thinking of where we'll go and think of how we're going to get out of here," he snapped at her.  
  
Cedra had thought long and hard about how to get out, and she only had a couple thoughts, but figured that they wouldn't work. "What about floo powder or some other magic."  
  
"No use, this house is magical. Like I said, the house shows no mercy; it wouldn't let us out by magic," he had told her.  
  
"Then the only thing I can think of is to try as best we can to get out through a door or window. I know what you just said, but it's our only hope," she whispered to him.  
  
"They ran to the doors in the foyer. Draco had lived in the mansion all his life and still barely knew anything of how the house looked. That time he studied the doors he would be trying to escape from. They read: 'Beyond these doors shall lie the path of freedom, shall anyone get there. Before these doors shall lie the blood of the innocence. In these doors lies the justices that shall set your poor, undeserving should free to be enslaved within these doors for as long as they shall stand.' "How harsh is that?" Draco had said to himself.  
  
Cedra knew exactly what he was talking about, cause she herself had read the door. "I think we shouldn't try these doors. Are there any other doors leading outside?"  
  
"Millions, if only you could find them. Out of all the years I have lived here, I have only been to a mere 300 rooms or so of the 70,000 or so rooms that this house has. I've come across several exits from the house, but the next day they wouldn't be there any more. We can try the kitchen door, but it'll be risky," he had spoken only too soon. For there was his father standing 15 feet away from them with a wand in one hand and a 12" knife in the other. "Father? What are you doing?" he had asked his father.  
  
Lucious only gave a threatening laugh. "Surely you know now of what I'm doing my dear boy." He had begun to step towards them.  
  
"This is our only way out. I guess today is judgement day." Cedra whispered.  
  
Draco had muttered a spell under his breath, which made Lucious suddenly stumble and the knife, flew several feet in front of him. Draco had nodded to Cedra and they both ran to the doors flinging them open. Before either one ran through they looked at each other in the eye, with the look of true love in their eyes, kissed each other and while holding hands they ran through the door. It had all happened so quickly. While going through the door, something picked up the knife and threw it at them. The knife struck Draco in the back, going straight through his cold heart. Cedra, who had gotten completely through the doors unharmed, turned quickly to see Draco's almost lifeless body lying there. Spirits had come out of the door and seemed to be watching as if giving them a chance to say their last good byes. "Draco? Please tell me you're going to be ok, that you're going to live, and these spirits that surround us will go away without your soul," she had sobbed.  
  
"I'm not going to make it," he whispered, "save yourself, run as far away as you can from this horrid place."  
  
Cedra could barely speak over her sobs. "You can't leave me, Draco, you just can't," she managed to scream. The spirits had begun to get closer to Draco as he was taking his last bits of breath. "No!" Cedra screamed at them. When they looked curiously at her she started again, "Take me, not Draco. I've had the privilege of being able to see freedom you speak of that is beyond these doors. Draco has only seen as much freedom as a slave has with a day off. He deserves this freedom, not me. Take me and let Draco live."  
  
The spirits looked at each other as if debating the matter. Meanwhile, Lucious had gotten up unnoticed and ran fully charged at Cedra with a bayonet. Instead of striking her with it, he had stabbed his son several more times making sure that he was dead. "So, you want to die, too, do you? Well I can do that for you," Lucious said with his evil laughter again. He ran straight towards her stabbing her right in the stomach. The only odd thing of the sort was she didn't try to save herself. She had known that she would not have lived even if she did 'save herself' and run away. Lucious would have hunted her down and made sure her death was a scrutinizing, painful, horrible death. She was then met by Draco's soul and taken away.  
  
It's been 20 years since then, and Lucious has told this story only once and that was to his personal doctor at St. Brutis's Hospital for the Mentally and Criminally Insane, where he now lives. Normally a wizard would be sentenced to life in Azkaban, but being at such an important and high status at the Ministry of Magic, he was sent to St. Brutis's instead, where he truly is thought of as insane for claiming to be a wizard. Draco and Cedra's souls live on in a peaceful place where they will rest in peace for all of eternity together. 


End file.
